Highlighted below are two top quality articles chosen by our editorial team.

Phenotypic plasticity alone cannot explain climate-induced change in avian migration timing by Josh Van Buskirk, Robert S. Mulvihill and Robert C. Leberman.Abstract: Climate change has been linked to phenological shifts in many organisms, but there is debate over the degree to which changes are caused by evolved genetic responses of populations or by phenotypic plasticity of individuals. We estimated that temperature-induced plasticity of spring arrival date in 27 species of North American migratory bird was strong, but not sufficient to explain the climate-induced trend in phenology observed over 46 years. Some part of the response to environmental change may be caused by microevolution.

Intracoastal shipping drives patterns of regional population expansion by an invasive marine invertebrate by John A. Darling, Leif-Matthias Herborg and Ian C. Davidson.Abstract: Understanding the factors contributing to expansion of nonnative populations is a critical step toward accurate risk assessment and effective management of biological invasions. Nevertheless, few studies have attempted explicitly to test hypotheses regarding factors driving invasive spread by seeking correlations between patterns of vector movement and patterns of genetic connectivity. We describe such an attempt for the invasive tunicate Styela clava in the northeastern Pacific.